pulling the plow

spanked
just out of the shower
was able to get a ride in before sunset
the day was amazing
but was a little slow out of the gate
with the older son, dean, at grandma's
lisa and I got to take grant into the woods with the dogs for a bit
other than that
not much exercise
had the laptop on the back porch as I monitored dean (back from grandma's come afternoon) and one of his friends tie up everything with some old climbing rope
no I do not climb

the boys moved indoors
active outdoors moved to toys indoors
legos moved to group pleas for a power ranger movie
the pleading was too much
so I agreed to the movie as long as I got to pick it
put in Avatar.... a Nick kids Anime dvd
then worked on my template

the time moved by and dean's friend's dad came to pick up his son
I looked at the time
I looked at the day
then I played through what I had done that day
it boggled my mind that riding had not occured to me
so I offered Dean and Grant to go for a ride

with the excitement of a firehouse answering to an emergency call we all rushed about the house
dean had to get shoes back on and located his coat
I need to suit up in some cycling gear, grab a bike from the basement, and pull the burley
trailer from the garage
lisa was assigned the task of getting a drink and snack for the boys
lisa also was responsible t0 make sure the boys did what they were supposed to do
for grant.... it was his responsibility to stay out of trouble

with great efficiency there was air in the tires
then assembly of the trailer
but only after the already removed wheels were taken into the house as there is a pump in the basement but not in the garage
with the trailer assembled and attached to the bike
dean and grant made the last steps out the backyard and into the alley

four year old dean is a long tall glass a water
not sure how tall
maybe knee high to a grasshopper
not sure exactly
but almost too large to fit in the burley deluxe trailer
grant is new to the trailer
he would fit fine
but with dean taking up more than his half
well it was a little tight

threw my gatorade and backpack into the back of the trailer and pedaled away
the slight grade out of my alley was no place to warm up
my small ring on the cross bike is well worn
too worn for use
so I am left to the big ring, which is more of a half step than a big ring, but big enough just the same
with not much more than maybe 23 in the back I stepped out of the saddle and snailed out the alley

out the alley
made a turn
then another turn
all down hill
cruising
it is a tough one
sometimes I take the sidewalks to get to the bike path
then there are times where I feel it is just that I take the road
the speed limit is 25 mph
I doubt that I was going as many miles per hour under the speed limit as the driver who started to tailgate me was going over the speed limit
the hill gets more steep
with more speed the driver gives me more space

in no time I am on the closed section of Beach Drive

no time for this post
here it is
took the closed section of Beach Drive then Jones Mill over to the Capitol Crescent Trail
a good grade for pulling the trailer
as we passed through the old railroad tunnels I chugged along and made my train sounds for my kids.... like I always do
there was not much conversation between us
take more effort to go forward fast with the two of them rather than just one
not to mention my early season lack of condiditoning

got them to sing a few things for me
as I am against the notion of headphones for multiuse trail users
so their renditions of Itsy Bitsy Spider would have to do

the ride was just what I needed
felt worked
felt strong yet humbled
got a guage of the miles ahead
got a reminder how much fun it is to pull the boys
got a long mile ride out of a short ride
an hour and a half pulling 100 pounds... a great work out that I need to return to
even if the next one includes stops at museums and monument